Sometimes You Find Your Doraemon Collection
by natodiangelo
Summary: While Looking For Something Else, and That's Really Just How the World is. (gintama secret santa 2016)


written for the gintama secret santa 2016

* * *

The tree's sharp pines pricked Hijikata's fingers as he set it into the stand. Kagura was on her knees opposite him, quickly twisting the screws into place as he held it steady. The stand was made of cheap plastic and had been found hidden between boxes in the attic and it was probably a million years old but when Kagura gave him the thumbs up and he let go the tree remained standing so he figured it was good enough.

The tree was wide and deep green, and, as he stepped back to look at it, ridiculously oversized for their living room. It dwarfed Kagura and reached a little above Hijikata's head, brushing the ceiling. It had taken both him and Gintoki wrestling it to get it inside, and now that it was here he couldn't help but think with regret the effort it would take to get it back out when Christmas ended.

That was a problem for later, though, later when Kagura wasn't pulling on his sleeve to get his attention.

"We get to decorate it now, yeah?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah, as soon as Gintoki gets down here with the ornaments."

Gintoki was in the attic trying to find the box of their Christmas decorations. Hijikata could hear the occasional thump of something – or someone – hitting the floor, accompanied by cursing.

Hijikata walked over to the fold-out ladder leading up to the attic. "You doing okay up there?"

"Can't fucking find the box." Gintoki replied irritatedly. There was another thump, and he cursed again. "Why the fuck am I up here? I don't know where anything is."

"You put the box away last year."

"Why did you let me put the box away last year?" Hijikata could hear the sound of Gintoki angrily opening another box.

"Aha!"

"Did you find it?"

"No, but I found where you hid all my copies of Doraemon. I didn't think you actually threw them out." Hijikata sighed as he listened to Gintoki's victorious laughter.

"Just find the box. Kagura wants to decorate, and we still have stuff to do today after that."

"Okay, _Mom_."

Kagura appeared at Hijikata's side – and then disappeared again, running up the ladder. "I'm gonna go help him."

"Good, he needs it."

Even as he turned to walk away he could hear them begin to bicker. He shook his head.

He looked around the living room. They had had to rearrange the furniture to get the tree to fit in with everything else, and it – it wasn't _bad_ , really, but it wasn't what he was used to seeing. He moved one of the chairs a little to the left. It didn't help, and he left the room before he decided to rearrange everything again.

The kitchen, on the other hand, was exactly as he was used to: crowded. Counters covered with dishes they hadn't had time or energy to wash, table covered by white plastic bags filled with cookie cutters that he had brought down from the top shelves of their cabinets, fridge cluttered with Kagura's crayon drawings and the household chore chart and reminders for appointments. He moved a few bags to the floor so he could sit at the table and began to organizing the mess.

It was a couple of minutes before he was interrupted. There was a victorious screech above him and then the loud patter of feet racing across floor and down steps. Kagura ran into the living room full speed, Gintoki following slower behind her, arms full of a cardboard box Hijikata hoped was labeled 'Christmas Decorations'. He set his work aside and joined them in the living room.

Kagura was opening the flaps of the box without preamble, digging into it with an enthusiastic gleam in her eye. Gintoki plopped down beside her and helped her pull out and untangle the garlands and strings of lights.

"We've had these lights for so long," Gintoki commented, looking at part of the green cord that had faded to nearly colorless. "I wonder if they even work anymore."

Hijikata pulled them from his hand and took them to the tree. "They better still work. I don't want to have to go to the store." He plugged them into the outlet and watched with relief as they lit up. "They work."

Gintoki passed him the rest of the lights and Kagura jumped up to help him wrap them around the tree. Gintoki continued to pull decorations out of the box: the rest of the garlands followed by brightly colored ornaments. Hijikata let Kagura do most of the decorating, only helping when her height became a problem and the top of the tree looked empty.

It didn't take as long as he had thought; what with Kagura's energy they were done before he knew it, and then they were moving into the kitchen for hot chocolate.

Gintoki shoved a few dirty bowls aside to get to the electric kettle and turned it on. Hijikata dug through the cupboard next to him to find the hot chocolate mix.

"Are we gonna make cookies?" Kagura asked from the table, looking at the half sorted mess of cookie cutters. Hijikata searched out a couple of clean mugs from the counter as he answered.

"Otae's going to bring Shinpachi over tomorrow so you guys can make cookies."

Gintoki looked over at him in horror. "Otae?"

"She's just dropping him off. You're gonna be helping them."

Gintoki sighed his relief.

"I want to see boss lady, though." Kagura complained, coming up to his side.

"Not for making cookies, you don't." Gintoki said. "There's egg in cookies."

"There is?" Kagura exclaimed. "Actually, I don't want to see boss lady."

"You can ask her to spend the night if you want." Hijikata offered. He moved across the kitchen to the shelves, looking for the bag of marshmallows.

"Can I?" Kagura asked eagerly.

"I don't know why you want to see her." Gintoki said, hip leaned against the counter and arms crossed. "All she does is gossip with you."

"Neither of you two gossip with me. Maybe a girl just wants to gossip every once in a while, huh?"

"A girl your age doesn't need to gossip. What you need is all 45 volumes of Doraemon and a large chocolate parfait."

"Don't make me get your order-"

"Gintoki," Hijikata interrupted, back to them and still looking over the shelves. "Do you know where the marshmallows went?"

"You know," Gintoki began. "I think I saw a small, red headed, annoying brat eat all of them the other day."

"Actually," Kagura interjected, "I saw a big, gray haired, perverted old man eat all of them the other day."

"No, no, it was definitely a small, red headed, annoying brat that ate all of them." Gintoki repeated. "And- look at that, there's a small, red headed, annoying brat right here. What a coincidence."

"And look at that! There's a big, gray haired, perverted old man right here!"

"Kagura, don't talk about Toshi like that. He's not that big."

"Hey!" Hijikata frowned. "I've told you guys before, don't eat all of them if you want to have them for hot chocolate. I guess you'll have to settle for mayo now."

Gintoki was suddenly by the front door, pulling on a coat with keys in his hands. "Toshi, dear, I'm going to the store for some marshmallows. Be back soon."

"I'm going too!" Kagura ran after him.

Hijikata sighed. "Neither of them appreciate the culinary masterpiece that is mayo."

The electric kettle clicked, and he poured hot water into his mug. He could hear them still bickering outside, and shook his head. He didn't know how they could keep it up all the time. He added the hot chocolate mix and went to the fridge to get his mayo.

* * *

Gintoki was awake when Hijikata got home.

It was Christmas Eve and it was going on eleven. Hijikata opened the door with tired hands and trudged inside with tired feet. He tried to hang up his coat with cold fingers that didn't want to bend, and threw the coat over the back of one of the living room chairs.

He hadn't signed up for the late shift – wouldn't have ever, but especially not the day before Christmas – but there he was, coming home much later and more exhausted than he would have liked.

Gintoki was in the kitchen, table spread with gift wrap and colorful bows and pages of present tags even though most of the gifts were for Kagura. He looked up as Hijikata walked in, pausing with tape on his fingers, and gave him a smile.

"You're home late." Gintoki remarked, watching Hijikata plod to the chair opposite him. "You seem tired."

"They gave me a late shift without letting me know. Again." Hijikata explained. Once he sat down he stretched his legs out, groaning as his feet and thighs protested. "I'm off next week thankfully."

"They over work you guys." Gintoki said. "You should go tell your boss that you're not gonna work like that anymore. Put your foot down." He creased his fold in the gift wrap and carefully taped it down.

"Kondo's been stressed lately, what with the holidays. That's why the schedule was weird."

"It wasn't the holidays last time that happened."

"Fine, I'll let him know. I won't work weird schedules without notice."

"There we go." Gintoki said, leaning back to look at the present he had finished wrapping. "You really can't let them do that to you. You'll end up working until you drop otherwise."

"Yeah, I know." Hijikata leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He really was tired, enough that even with his empty stomach he just wanted to curl into bed and sleep. "Are you almost done wrapping?"

"One more and that's it. You ready to go to bed?"

"Yeah."

"Go ahead, I'll be there in a minute."

Hijikata complied, staggering to his feet and stumbling to the bedroom. He changed out of his work clothes and into one of Gintoki's old t-shirts before falling onto the bed. It was only a few minutes before Gintoki came in, shutting the door and stripping. Hijikata let his eyes close, only opening them when the bed sunk with Gintoki's weight.

"Kagura's going to be in here first thing in the morning." Gintoki told him, not that he didn't already know. "I'll fend her off as long as I can so you can sleep."

Affection washed over his sleepy mind, warming his chest. He pulled Gintoki close and wrapped an arm around his waist, kissing his forehead. "Thanks."

"Now get to sleep, bastard. You need it."

* * *

Gintoki was woken up by something landing painfully hard on his chest. He opened his eyes to a blur of red and orange, a _heavy_ blur of red an orange, and he grumpily shoved her off of him.

"Kagura, what the fuck do you want." Gintoki said into the pillow, trying to hide his eyes from the light already streaming in the curtain. Her reply came overly enthusiastic.

"It's Christmas!"

"No shit."

"Get out of bed, you lousy madao, so I can open my presents."

"Where's the sweet little girl you used to be?"

"I'm still sweet! You're just too rotten to be able to see it anymore. Now, get up!"

"Alright, alright. Just be quiet so Toshi can sleep."

Kagura ran out of the room as he sat up, saying she needed to protect her presents from Sadaharu. Gintoki rubbed at his face for a minute before getting up.

 _God_ , he needed to pee.

One bathroom trip later and he was getting dressed – warm clothes, because even with the heater on it was _cold_. He glanced over at Hijikata before he left the room.

He was still sleeping peacefully, black hair a mess around his head and mouth parted to breathe. Gintoki walked over and tucked the blanket a little closer around him, just because _fuck_ , it was cold. Then, bracing himself for the absolute _beast_ he called his child, he left the bedroom.

Kagura was laying on her stomach in front of the tree, legs bent at the knees and kicking. Sadaharu laid next to her, all fur and fluff. Gintoki sank into one of the armchairs next to her.

"Can I open them?" Kagura asked excitedly, looking up at him. Gintoki picked at his nose with his pinky.

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Cause our dearest Toshi isn't awake yet-" Gintoki leapt up and grabbed her before she could succeed in her dash toward the bedroom. "-and you can't wake him up."

"But he's gonna sleep for ever like the lazy ass he is!" She complained. Gintoki sat back down, tossing his feet onto the footstool and crossing his ankles.

"Not my problem."

"Gin-chan!"

"I'll make you breakfast while we wait, okay? How about that?"

"Food is only a temporary comfort for my deep-rooted depression, Gin-chan." Kagura said. "Can I chose what you make?"

"Sure."

* * *

Hijikata woke up to a crash. He panicked, sitting up and looking around frantically for the source of the sound. When all that came was the muffled sound of Gintoki cursing and Kagura laughing, he sighed his relief and laid back down.

Of course it's just them.

He took a moment to gather himself before getting up and going to see what the fuss was about.

They were at the kitchen table, Kagura on her knees on her chair leaning over to argue with Gintoki, who sat with one leg crossed over the other. As Hijikata walked in their argument died down.

"Toshi!" Kagura exclaimed, jumping up. "Can I open my presents?"

"Breakfast is almost ready, you ungrateful brat."

Kagura ignored him. "Can I?"

Hijikata, still half asleep, blinked at her. "Sure."

Her victorious yell lingered as she ran into the living room. Gintoki slowly stood up, stretching, and together they followed her.

"What was that crash earlier?" Hijikata asked as he settled himself onto the couch to watch Kagura. She was tearing into the wrapping like a rabid dog into its prey, eyes shining with hunger. He couldn't help smiling at her enthusiasm.

"My wit was too heavy and I dropped it." Gintoki replied, sitting beside him and draping his arm over the back of the couch behind him.

"You have wit?"

"Kagura, who is this beside me? Who let a weird species of gorilla into the house?"

Kagura looked over curiously. "Is Kondo here?"

Hijikata ran a hand over his face.

"Just open your presents." He told her, and she happily returned to them.

"Anyways," He said to Gintoki, "The crash woke me up. I was worried one of you got hurt, but both of your skulls are too thick for that."

"I told you, my wit just got out of hand."

"Uh-huh, alright."

"Toshiiiii-" Kagura yelled, looking over at them with wide eyes. She held up one of the gifts – a floral parasol Hijikata had gotten her. She had shown an interest in them before, and so he had thought it was a fairly safe gift to get, but…

"What?" He asked. "Do you not like it?"

She shook her head. "It's the one I wanted!" She gasped dramatically. "Did you follow me like that gorilla stalker into the store while I was gazing longingly at this one? Pervert."

"I didn't! And I'm not a pervert!" Hijikata hadn't followed her – he had asked one of the workers which one a young girl might like, and she had pointed that one out. It had made him feel a little old, having to as a worker what a kid might like, but luckily he had the right choice.

"That's what all the perverts say." Kagura said, and turned back to her few remaining presents.

"Hey, Toshi," Gintoki said, "Since you got Kagura the perfect gift where's my perfect gift?"

"Under the tree."

"Really?"

"Yeah, right next to where Sadaharu had an accident. Wait, did I say next to? It's Sadaharu's accident."

"Fucker."

Hijikata snorted. "Where's my perfect gift then, huh?"

Gintoki leaned in close and replied into his ear.

"It'll be on the bed at Kagura's-asleep-o'clock. Sorry, did I say on the bed? I meant in your ass."

Hijikata pulled away from him. "If you really think it'll get that far the way you're acting."

"What, are you saying you want a refund? That present is quite expensive."

"Oh, no, I'm not going to return it. I just might make a few modifications to make it perfect."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Like…" Hijikata leaned in this time, lips to Gintoki's ear as he whispered, "You might be on the couch."

"Uh-huh…"

"Alone."

"Please. Sadaharu would cuddle up with me at least."

"No he wouldn't." Kagura added, wrapping her arms around Sadaharu's head. "He doesn't like perverted old men."

"He liked me just fine yesterday when I was giving him belly rubs!"

"He can't resist belly rubs but that doesn't mean he likes you, you smelly madao."

"Oh yeah?" Gintoki jumped up and went over to Sadaharu. "I'll show you. He likes me just fine, and would totally cuddle up on the couch with me."

"Would not!"

"Would too!"

Hijikata watched amusedly as they fought over Sadaharu's attention. They were always like this: bickering and arguing and fighting, but Hijikata thought that that was just how they got along.

Later, when they had finished their argument (Kagura won, this time, with Sadaharu laying next to her instead of Gintoki) and they were warming up tea and making popcorn to have while they watched a movie, Hijikata realized this was exactly how he wanted to spend Christmas every year.


End file.
